"It's better than St Paul", an Interview with Mike

How many of us bother to stop and talk to our homeless neighbors?
Sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it?
We do have neighbors and when we get to know them, when we take the time
to know them, we discover so many things. The first thing I see is his smile. than, as with so many people I know, toothlessness, some from meth, some from jail house initiation, some from just having so much neglect. He didn't have sunglasses, some do, I got to experience the eye to eye contact that tells so much about a being; should I dare to look deeply enough.
Sure it can be scary for a woman alone,there are a lot of creeps out there, but so many of our neighbors are not creeps.
Where are you from originally? Do you need some water, sunscreen, food? He just wants my discarded plastic and aluminum. He is just trying to eek out a living from trash. Having met him, he is new to my alley, I feel safer.

It bothers me to hear sounds in the night..the rummaging through the garbage cans the dropping noisy thrashing. Most of the time, the noisiest, are the raccoons.
Sweet Sleep
From The Urban Witch

Comments

I am appalled at the assumptions and generalizations in this entry. While it seems that the author is exhorting us to recognize those without homes as human (a laudable plea), her sweeping generalizations undermine her exhortation and demonstrate that perhaps it is she herself that needs to heed her own advice.

aaaaaaah dear soonah, methinks you have missed the message that lies therein: that being we are all children of the same universe. being homeless is not punishment for misdeeds, nor are all "homeless" homeless by design or choice and that they are deserving of a bit of compassion. but i can tell from your commentary that you are above such a radical thought. i think that you should experience being homeless for a while; that might give you a bit more compassion and understanding.

Dear Soonah
Sorry if I gave the wrong impression, I had just been talking to a person from St Paul. If you read my other blogs, you might know a bit more about my ideals. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.

you know if you actually walked in our shoes than you would know what true homeless people are like. try our shoes on for size than come talk to me.havent you heard the saying never judge a book by its cover , well stop looking at the cover and open the book and youll be suprized at what you see.

I'm sorry to stay i made a statement about what i truly know and havent judged no one except for what was said on true facts that were stated incorrectly by someone that has never been in our shoes so i belive you are the one thats doing the real judging. until you can see the real homless people the ones that are not living the way you say all homless are than you can not say thats what homeless are.

I was homeless with 2 babies in 1970. When I got back on my feet, I started working for a place that got homeless women and children off the streets and into housing. I have been an advocate for homeless families most of my adult life. I only write about what I live. Every experience is unique, we all do the best we can do. I speak from my heart, never intending to hurt or shame anyone. I am sorry if you feel I have been anything but real.